Smaller towns offer great food options around Seacoast

Great dining options continue to expand in region

My trip to the James Beard Awards in New York City on May 5 was certainly "big city," complete with red carpet and paparazzi, and lots of rail-thin ladies (what do they even eat in those restaurants?) and celebrity chefs and television personalities air kissing in the crowded halls outside the theater at Lincoln Center.

My trip to the James Beard Awards in New York City on May 5 was certainly "big city," complete with red carpet and paparazzi, and lots of rail-thin ladies (what do they even eat in those restaurants?) and celebrity chefs and television personalities air kissing in the crowded halls outside the theater at Lincoln Center.

We enjoyed the awards (chef Jamie Bissonette from Coppa in Boston won Best Chef Northeast), and then went out to dine on snacks and bites from past and present James Beard Award winners, as well as from likely future nominees.

Later in May, I dined at the James Beard House on food from our own Evan Hennessey of Dover, who was an award semifinalist with Evan Mallett from Black Trumpet Bistro in Portsmouth. Because you know something? Not all great chefs in the United States are in big cities; in fact, more and more we're going to see them in our little towns.

There were many chefs from small towns on the awards semifinalist list this year — chefs from Camden, Maine; Southhold, N.Y.; South Londonderry, Vt.; Collingswood and Princeton, N.J.; Bayfield, Wis.; and, of course Portsmouth and Dover. Sure, most were still from the big cities, but now talented chefs are staying in their own towns, with family. And diners are coming to them.

Not only is this happening on a Boston/Portsmouth basis (Portsmouth being the great food alternative to Boston because it's easier to navigate), but on a Portsmouth and peripheral town basis (peripheral towns being the great food alternative to Portsmouth because they're easier to navigate).

We love Portsmouth and its restaurants but, well, we all know there's a parking problem and, as locals, we sometimes want to be far from the crowds and stay in our own towns. Now we can, because all the towns around Portsmouth are developing their own food cultures. They have their own farms to get food from, and these chefs are cooking in the towns where their families live (for the most part). It's cheaper, less hectic and still terrific.

There's a bit of this going on in larger cities, like, say, Austin, Texas, where there's a central downtown area where folks flock to party, but all around are little neighborhoods, each with their own character, bars, restaurants and shops. It's also like neighborhoods in Manhattan or Brooklyn, although I was in shock when I saw my old Village neighborhood again on Bleecker Street after 10 years of not being there — it's all big designer clothing stores. Swank.

Because of our demographics and geography, our "neighborhoods" are actually towns, and while our chefs could be cooking in Boston or New York, Chicago or San Francisco, they choose to stay right here on the Seacoast in the towns peripheral to Portsmouth.

Most notable is Kittery, Maine, which seems like a hip Brooklyn neighborhood with Anneke Jans, The Black Birch, Lil's Cafe and now the new Anju Noodle Bar, along with Tulsi and Loco Coco's. Rudder's Public House and AJ's Wood Grilled Pizza are here too, all within walking distance of each other, and together making up a particular feel or character.

Then we have Dover, which has many great pubs and a lot of live music. That town has its own character, too. While chef Hennessey's Stages at One Washington is there, along with Orchard Street Chop Shop, both a bit more high-end, we have Fury's Publick House and Sonny's Tavern, Cara Irish Pub and Kelley's Row Restaurant and Cellar Pub — fun neighborhood watering holes with live music. There are also food trucks in Dover.

Newmarket is branching out, too. Riverworks and The Big Bean have been there for ages but now we have Burrito Liberation, Oliviera's and Jay's Newmarket with Turkish food, and new, The Joinery, from Evan and Denise Mallett.

South Berwick, Maine, has Relish and Isadore on the Rocks, and soon Thistle Pig will open. Chef Ben Hasty could have opted to open in Portsmouth, Portland or Boston — he's worked in all those cities — but he's chosen his own hometown where his family's Breezy Hill Farm is located.

Exeter has a few downtown spots like Blue Moon Evolution, 11 Water Street, Epoch, and Pimentos — all in walking distance of each other and these all reflect the character of the town. When I came back last week and went to a few of these places, I knew so many people. That's what Exeter is like — homey and insular and comforting in that way.

Hampton, while a bit more spread out, is made up of many family restaurants, less "fine dining," and many Italian spots. And keep an eye on York Beach with Gigi's, and Joe Lipton's group of restaurants: Inn on Blues, Guac-n-Roll and his new Stone's Throw. His spots are lively with live music and that "vacation" feel.

So what does it all mean? That I'm an amateur restaurant demographer, for one, but also that we're going to be seeing more of this. Great chefs opening in Portsmouth, yes, but so many more in the outskirts, in our small towns surrounding Portsmouth, in pockets of our region away from it all. If you happen to live in that small town, you'll find your friends and neighbors there, and many others coming from far away because so many of our notable chefs and restaurants just want to cook in their own communities. We'll see more James Beard Award-winning and nominated chefs in those small towns, and some day, those crowds on awards night might just be made up of fewer New Yorkers, and more small and hometown heroes.

The Dish:

Juice Burger is open for the season! This is a great burger food truck in Dover and it has a brand-new look from design company Brainstorm, also in Dover.

Check out the "making" of the new truck design at www.wearebrainstorm.com and scroll down to the "Fun with Food Trucks" link toward the bottom of the page. They have photos and even a time-lapse video. I'll have more on how they came up with the design in a later column.

To find Juice Burger, go to www.juiceburger.com

Rachel Forrest is a former restaurant owner who lives in Exeter and Austin, Texas. Her column appears Thursdays in Go&Do. Her restaurant review column, Dining Out, appears Thursdays in Spotlight magazine. She can be reached by e-mail at rachel.forrest@localmediagroupinc.com.